Ah, money! 🤑 Who does not want money? Or better yet, who does not need money? I suppose we all do. Ako, kailangan ko ng pera at syempre, gusto ko din ng pera. And opkors, lahat tayo, may kanya-kanyang pangangailangan kung saan magagamit natin ang pera. Pambili ng pagkain? Kailangan ng pera. May trip kang damit? Magbabayad ka ng pera. May bibilhin kang gamit online, kailangan pa rin ng pera. May ipapatrabaho ka somewhere? Guess what, pera pa rin 'yan. At kung tatanungin mo ako kung saan ko ginagamit ang pera ko, bakit, bibigyan mo ba ako? HAHAHAHA

Well, para sa karamihan, hindi naman na talaga tanong kung para saan ang pera. Ang karaniwang sagot is: pang-sustento sa buhay. Tama naman din sila. Talagang binigay ng Diyos ang kayamanan para may magamit tayo sa araw-araw nating gastusin—regardless kung anong social class man natin. This is basic. Or is it? *Insert X-Files music here*

Talaga bang ang pera ay para lamang sa pang-araw-araw na gastusin? Masama bang mag-aspire na yumaman? Kapag ba naniwala ako kay Lord, magiging mayaman na ako? Sino ba ang nagtatakda ng wealth ng tao? Bakit kung sino pang mabuti, sya pang hindi yumayaman? Should wealth be a priority? Masama bang magpayaman? Ahhhh! Ang daming tanong about pera. Susubukan kong sagutin ang mga 'yan ngayon. Kung may tanong pa kayo na wala dito, send me a message at sasagutin natin 'yan after nyong mag-send ng bayad sa bank account ko. HAHAHAHAHA! Joke lang.

Ano Ba Ang Purpose ng Wealth?

We cannot understand the purpose of wealth without properly understanding the purpose of life. According the Westminster Shorter Catechism of 1647, the chief end of man is "to glorify God and enjoy him forever." Though this is not a statement na directly drawn from the Bible, yung wisdom behind this is surely Biblical (1 Corinthians 6:20, Revelation 21:3-4). This means na in all that we do (yes, even with all of our wealth and possessions), we are meant to glorify God and to enjoy His presence and His reality in our lives.

We must also remember kung kanino galing ang lahat ng ating mga possessions. Deuteronomy 8:18 declares that it is God who gives us the power to get wealth. And in Ecclesiastes 5:19, it's revealed that God also gives the power to enjoy our God-given wealth and possessions. Ito talaga yung tunay na #paawer! LOL! Therefore, it's just right na gamitin natin yung binigay ni Lord for His purposes, joy and glory because it is technically His. We're just stewards.

So, gagamit ka ng money pambili ng puto kasi gutom ka? Sure! That's alright. Money becomes God's provision sa kagutuman mo sa sitwasyon na 'yan. Ginamit mo yung pera pang-taya sa manok na pula na mukhang matapang kahit na pang-tuition sana ng anak mo 'yun? Well, iresponsable na 'yan and that's not how you glorify the Lord with your wealth.

So the greater question now is: how do we exactly glorify God with our wealth?

Glorifying God With Your Wealth

It's actually impossible for man to glorify God without true repentance that comes out of a regenerated heart. Unless the Lord reorients our hearts to value Christ as our reward, as our treasure, we'll always look at material possessions (such as money) as our hearts' deepest treasure. And that's what Psalm 37:4 meant with this passage na lagi nating ginagamit kapag may birthday: "He will give you the desires of your heart": he will reorient our hearts to treasure God above earthly things including material wealth. It does not mean he would guarantee us more money nor does it mean na even yung evil desires ng heart natin eh iga-grant ni God—but He would grant us more of Jesus Christ that we may experience true peace, contentment, joy, and freedom. Everything becomes focused kay Christ. This is the heart of the true Christian. And the reorientation of the heart is the premise for anyone to actually honor God in anything.

Proverbs 3:9-10 says, "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." Wow! What a promise! But nope, this is not a verse that supports the prosperity gospel (though yes, it's commonly misunderstood to support it dahil hindi binabasa in proper context)! Verse 1 of Proverbs 3 clearly says, "My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments". The following verses after that are verses reminding us of godly wisdom—including verse 9-10. My point is, the text reminds us to honor God through obedience sa Word Nya, specifically (in this case) to honor Him with our wealth then the Lord would reward us graciously according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

This means that we can do a lot of things with our money as long as we're using it in accordance to His word like give to the needy (Luke 12:33), build a right attitude to it and not love money (1 John 2:15-17), support the family (1 Timothy 5:8), be a good steward and grow it and manage it (Proverbs 13:11), or support the work of God—and yes, that includes tithing (Malachi 3:10). [Note: some of these verses are commonly taken without proper context by those in the prosperity gospel camp.]

It's actually pretty common for a lot of Christians today, especially dito sa Pinas kung saan prominente ang prosperity gospel (if you want to learn more on what's wrong with the prosperity gospel, watch American Gospel here), to think this way: "if I do this, then I’ll get this". But that statement alone reveals so much already about its intentions. It makes it clear that the person who thinks like this primarily wants the fruits of his obedience over desiring to honor God, which makes the honoring of God secondary na lang. And that's just wrong. That is idolatry: worshiping the gift over the giver. And to avoid false teachings as such, as Psalm 1:2 says, we must delight in the Law-Word of the Lord and meditate upon it day and night.

Is Wealth A Priority?

Proverbs 23:4-5 is clear on this. It says, "Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven." WHAT?! Money has wings?! Akala ko Whisper lang ang may wings. HAHAHAHA! Who said the Bible does not have humor?

What the Bible teaches as is to "flee from love of money" (Hebrews 13:5) for it is "a root of all kinds of evils" (1 Timothy 6:10). Paul says in the same verse that "it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs." The Bible does not forbid getting rich. It does not say that money is evil; but surely, the love of money is. Why? Because love of money IS idolatry; it is the worship of money (Matthew 6:24), and is therefore a direct violation of the first commandment:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:2

Scripture reminds us in Ecclesiastes 5:10 that "he who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity." Our pursuit of earthly wealth will be all for nothing if we're not living to glorify God. As Christ says in Matthew 16:26, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" God does not need anything (Acts 17:24-25) so definitely, our earthly wealth cannot pay for our damned souls.

Instead, God wants us to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven where no moth nor rust can destroy and where thieves do not break in to steal, reminding us that "where [our] treasure is, there [our hearts] will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21). Pero how is this done exactly? By seeking God's Kingdom (Matthew 6:33) in all of our days, by seeking to obey every word that comes out of God's mouth (Matthew 4:4). Earthly wealth is not a priority, but God's Kingdom is. And Christ should be seen as the ultimate reward—hindi pera, hindi perfect health, hindi bahay at lupa. Christ and si Christ alone. I hope all professing believers of Christ could say this with the Apostle Paul:

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21

Eh, Pero Bakit Kung Sino Pang Masama, Sila Pa Ang Yumayaman?

Well, hindi naman lahat ng mayaman, wicked. At hindi din naman lahat ng wicked, mayaman. And again, walang nagsasabing kasalanan ang maging mayaman. Yung pagiging wicked per God's standard, obviously, is. So I think the claim was an overstatement. But it's a common question that pops out sa minds ng mga Christians nonetheless.

But to be frank, this sentiment stems out of a short-sighted view of God's grace and a corrupted view of God's blessings. Bakit, yung eternal life ba na grinant ni God through Christ is hanggang dito lang sa buhay na ito? NO! It's called eternal life kasi... it is eternal. Eternal life is promised to those who have faith in Christ, and eternal damnation is promised to those who don't (the wicked). God's grace for His elect people are eternal thus God commands us to "set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" in Colossians 3:2.

The wicked, yung mercy ni God is upon them but that mercy is not eternal. If they would not turn to Christ in this life, God's wrath will be upon them for all eternity (John 3:36). Ito ba yung ine-envy natin? Does God's blessings only come in material wealth? Is Christ not enough? Again, unless Christ is valued as your ultimate treasure, we're enthroning something/someone else sa throne ng hearts natin. So they may flourish now, they may be doing all the wrong things to acquire wealth, they may be very aggressive sa matter na ito, but then the Lord commands us to not envy the evildoers for their days are short in Psalm 37:

Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.
Psalm 37:1-11

Conclusion​

When Jesus was asked kung ano ang greatest commandment, he quoted from Deuteronomy 6 saying, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). Are we really obeying this, friends? Unless Christ sits in the throne of our hearts, we'll remain discontented with the provisions that God gives us... We'll keep on chasing after temporal wealth which cannot buy our salvation and feel envious of the world.

Jesus reminds us in Luke 12:15: "take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Do you love money? Is money lording over you? Do you enjoy it more than you enjoy God? Do you simply use it for your pleasure? Do you obey God with it? These are questions that matter. And if we have sinned against the Holy God, the Scriptures comforts us in Psalm 145:8 reminding us that "the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." Repent and believe in Jesus Christ! May the Lord reveal to us the great value of His grace found in Christ through whom God has loved us eternally.

Have a great week, my friends!